1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a weatherstrip, to be placed between the body and door of a vehicle, for preventing water, dust and noise from leaking to the inside. More particularly, the invention relates to a weatherstrip having an adhesive for securing it to the vehicle. Further, the invention relates to a release liner for the adhesive.
2. Description of the Art
Weatherstrips with a pressure-sensitive, double coated adhesive tape are well known. Many conventional weatherstrips are equipped with clips. When such a weatherstrip is fitted on a vehicle body, it is first clamped thereto by means of the clips. The release liner covering another surface of the adhesive tape is peeled off to allow the exposed adhesive surface to be adhered under pressure, to the vehicle body. Thus, the weatherstrip is secured onto the vehicle body.
However, the release liner is generally made of a paper and has insufficient strength, and often times, it gets torn when it is peeled off, thus interfering with the smooth fitting of the weatherstrip. Moreover, the torn liner cannot be reused.
In an effort to overcome this problem, a release liner made of a synthetic resin film such as polyethylene, which is stronger than paper has been proposed. However, even such a liner does not possess the desired strength and exhibits a similar problem to that of the paper liner.
Conceivably, a woven fabric made of a high-strength material such as aramid fibers and polyester fibers, can be used for the release liner in order to overcome the problem of the liner tearing. However, since such materials are expensive, the cost of the release liner and consequently the weatherstrip will be high. Therefore, such a solution is not a realistic one.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,614,347 to Kruschwitz discloses a trimming and sealing strip. The two-piece sealing assembly is secured in position by a double-sided adhesive strip 26. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,617,220 to Ginster, a sealing and trimming strip is disclosed, which includes a central portion and two wing portions. On the underside of the wings 5 and 6 are adhesive layers 24 and 26, with the adhesive layers having an outer surface that may be protected by a tear-off covering. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,952 to Nozaki, an adhesive tape bonded to a bottom surface of the weather strip secured the weather strip to a body panel of a vehicle. Further, U.S. application Ser. No. 07/844,485, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,304,409, discloses a weatherstrip fixed to a vehicle body via an adhesive tape.